First Open Water Swim of 2012

March 2, 2012 by Katie

"Swim" might be a little generous.  How about, "First Open Water Experience of 2012". 

I spent about 9 minutes in Saguaro Lake on Tuesday without a wetsuit.  It was a windy 47°F outside, and the water was 55°F. 

Why?

Not because I like the cold.  At all.  I live in one of the hottest places on earth, and I long for summer.  I don't wear a wetsuit because they're not allowed in marathon swimming.  If I ever want to do a "serious" ultra marathon swim (Manhattan Island, Catalina, etc.), I have to learn how to deal with cold water.  In fact, I have to learn to enjoy it.  Spoiler alert:  I'm not there yet.  Not even close.

I don't do this to torture myself.  I'm not interested in the whole the "man vs. nature" thing.  For one thing, I'm a GIRL!  I have a lot of friends who idolize David Goggins.

That's when he discovered the Badwater Ultramarathon—the legendary 135-mile race from the floor of Death Valley to Whitney Portal. He called race director Chris Kostman to see if he could get in. Kostman asked Goggins how many 100-milers he'd run. None. How many marathons? None. Kostman told him to get some ultramarathoning experience if he wanted to run Badwater.

Days later, he entered a 24-hour race in San Diego. The ordeal left him with broken metatarsals in both feet and a case of kidney failure, but he did crank out 100 miles in less than 19 hours. Ten days later, he ran the Las Vegas Marathon in 3:08. And for ample measure, he entered the H.U.R.T. 100-Mile Endurance Run, one of the hardest ultras in the world. Goggins finished ninth. All this was in the span of two months. --Runners World

God bless that guy for the charitable work he does.  Also for being tough and following his dreams.  But Yuck!  I'd rather get a DNF tattoo on my face than run myself into kidney failure. 

My First Experience in Cold Water

Last year, I got in Saguaro Lake on February 25th.  The water was 62°F at the shore.  Back then, 62°F felt unbelievably cold.  I got short of breath when I put my head in the water.  It felt like my head was going to explode.  I felt a little loopy.  I started singing  "I am so Great" by Bart Simpson. 

I had fun.  One of my friends rented a wetsuit to get in with me.  What a peach! 

In hindsight, I wasn't as cold as I thought I was.  More than anything, I had a strong reaction to an unfamiliar sensation.

In the year since that day, I've spent plenty of time in 60°F water.  I'm not comfortable at all, but I can do it.  I even managed to do 2 races in that temperature.

February 28th, 2012

On Tuesday, Saguaro Lake was 55°F.  Windy and 47°F on land.  I shivered getting in.  Up to mid-thigh, the water felt pretty comfortable.  After that point, the hands had to go in.  Ouch!  It took at least 5 minutes for my hands to stop hurting.  I dreaded putting my shoulders in, but that wasn't bad at all.  Same for my head.  I splashed water on my face before I went under.  No brain freeze. 

My friend (a different one) brought her stand-up paddle board out to support me.  I was cracking up because I was just standing there. She didn't have to paddle at all to keep up.  She kept encouraging me and telling me what a good job I was doing.  It's so nice to hear that!  Sometimes I feel like a big wimp.  After all, the swimming world is full of people who swim in really cold water without so much as a shiver.  Donnal, Gords, Josh, Goody, Rob and Bubbles to name just a few.  

I breaststroked over to her and then got out.  Nine minutes total.  I was cold for about 2 hours afterward, but no shivering, and no numbness.  That means I could have stayed in quite a bit longer.  Maybe even swam?  But good enough for the first attempt of the year.

Once again, I had fun.  As they say, "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional."